**Due to recommendations from those we were with, I decided to not post any blogs about India while we were there. As a result, I have a few blogs that were written while I was there coming in the next couple of days…
Written: 4/3/11
Fun facts from India I’ve discovered so far…
Cricket is actually a real sport. And there’s a world cup, which happened to be hosted by India, which India won last Saturday. Kind of a big deal apparently.
Calcutta has almost as many mortar fireworks as they do people. They all started going off around 11pm when India won the Cricket world cup. Katie, Cameron, and I watched from our roof. It was pretty awesome.
Nobody in this country will give you change, and the ATM only gives you large bills. A grocery store actually refused to make change for me (I gave them the equivalent of a 2 dollar bill for a 50 cent item) and let me leave even though I saw the change in the cash register.
You can buy chai tea on every corner for about four cents.
McDonald’s is the least greasiest option out of any food.
If you make eye contact with men they think you are suggesting something sexual. Needless to say I’ve stopped my winking habit.
I’ve never felt stared at more in my entire life. I’ve been longing for a place like New York City where everyone will ignore my existence.
Giant crows have taken over Calcutta. There are probably more of these birds then there are people, which is saying something. I was recently thinking that this would be a perfect setting for a sequel to the movie The Birds. I thought of this after one attacked my head the other day.
One way streets tend to all of a sudden change direction in the afternoon. One person just decides to start driving the other way and the flow of traffic changes.
Cows stop traffic, but cars speed up when I start to cross the road.
Apparently if you make eye contact with a car as you’re crossing the street, they have the right to hit you because you saw them.
If something wet drops on you from above, 9 times out of 10 it’s not rain. Today it was spit, the other day it was bird poop from a giant crow.
Don’t go to the meat market in the afternoon. Words can’t describe the smells.
The sideways head nod either means yes, no, or maybe. Your guess is as good as mine.
Calcutta is one of the few places on earth where man-pulled rickshaws are still legal.
Women will smile at you on the street if you smile and hold their gaze long enough.
Women in beautifully colored saris surround you everywhere you walk.
Children and adults alike walk up to you to shake your hand, simply to show respect for our culture.
People living in shacks the size of my kitchen table and made out of trash and blankets, offer us food and flowers as we sit on a railroad track that is their front step.
